GIFT  OF 


'"rs.    I.    ".    Aiken 


S: 


A\As- 


fSliaqqagi 


k 


The  RoLjcnaftEPS 


mimm  In 


n  ?L 

rsr 

|r^     (^ 

1 

{. 

y 

s 

( 

■ '  • ,  : 

Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

iVIicroSoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/arkrubaiytofomOOomarrich 


PERSIAN  WORDS  USED  IN  THE  RUBAIYAT, 
WITH  ENGLISH  PRONUNCIATIONS 

Alif,  Ah-leef — The  first  letter  of  the  Persian  alphabet, 

corresponding  to  our  long  a. 
Bahram  Gur,  Bah-rawm  Goor — An   ancient  Persian 

king  and  hunter. 
FerrAsh,  Far-rawsh — A  servant,  a  tent-pitcher. 
Hatim  Tai,  Hah'tim   Ty  —  A  mythical  king,  type  of 

generosity. 
Iram,  Ee-rawm — The  name  of  a  mythical  garden  in 

Arabia. 
Jamshyd,  Jam-sheed — A  mythical  king. 
Kaikobad,  Ky-ho-hawd — A  mythical  king. 
Kaikhosru,    Ky-kors-roo — A  mythical    king,    corre- 
sponding, probably,  to  Cyrus. 
Mah,  Mah  —  The  moon. 
Ma  HI,  Mah-hee — Fish. 

Mahmud,  Mah-mood — Persian  for  Mohammed. 
Muezzin,  Moo-ez-zeen — A  public  crier  who  calls  the 

faithful  to  prayer. 
Mushtari,  Moosh-tah-ree — The  planet  Jupiter. 
Naishapur,    Ny-shah-poor — The  city  of    Khorasan, 

home  of  Omar  Khayyam. 
Omar    Khayyam,    Ghoh-mar    Khy-yawm  —  literally, 

Omar  the  Tent-Maker. 
ParwIn,  Par-ween  —  The  Pleiades. 
Pehlevi,  Pa-le-vee — The  oflScial  language  of  the  Sas- 

sanian  dynasty. 
Ramazan,   Ra-ma-dawn   or  Ra-ma4hawn — The  ninth 

Moslem  month,  devoted  to  fasting. 
RubAiyat,  Roo-by-yoi — Four  lines,  a  quatrain  ;  from 

the  Arabic  word,  rubai,  meaning  a  quatrain  or 

epigram. 
RusTUM,  Roos-toom  —  A  mythical  Persian  hero,  son  of 

Zal. 
Sak!,  Saw-kee  —  A  cup-bearer. 
Sufi,  Soo-fee  —  A  Mahommedan  mystic. 
Tamam,  Tah-mawm — The  end — the  very  end. 
Zal.  Zawl—The  father  of  Rustum. 


COPYRIGHT,   1912 
BY  ELBERT  HUBBARD 


THE  RUBAIYAT 

OF   OMAR    KHAYYAM 


^w^AKE!   For  the  Sun,   who 
^  ■  ^        scatter'd  into  flight 
V  J  ^  The  Stars  before  him  from 
the  Field  of  Night, 
Drives  Night  along  with  them 
from  Heav'n,  and  strikes 
The  Sultan's  Turret  with  a  Shaft  of 
Light. 


Before  the  phantom  of  False  morn- 
ing died, 
Methought    a    Voice    within    the 
Tavern  cried, 
**  When  all  the  Temple  is  pre- 
pared within, 
Why  nods   the  drowsy   Worshiper 
outside  ?  " 


MS 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


Hi 

And,  as  the  Cock  crew,  those  who 

stood  before 
The  Tavern  shouted — "Open  then 
the  door  ! 
You  know  how  Uttle  while  we 
have  to  stay, 
And,  once  departed,  may  return  no 
more." 


IV 

Now  the  New  Year  reviving  old 

Desires, 
The    thoughtful    Soul    to    Solitude 
retires, 
Where     the     White    Hand     of 
Moses  on  the  Bough 
Puts    out,    and    Jesus    from    the 
Ground  suspires. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


V 

Iram  indeed  is  gone  with  all  his 

Rose, 
And   Jamshyd's    Sev*n-ring'd    Cup 
where  no  one  knows  ; 
But  still  a  Ruby  kindles  in  the 
Vine, 
And  many  a  Garden  by  the  Water 
blows. 


VI 

And  David's  lips  are  lockt ;  but  in 

divine 
High-piping  Pehlevi,  with  "  Wine  ! 
Wine !  Wine ! 
Red  Wine  !  " — the  Nightingale 
cries  to  the  Rose 
That  sallow  cheek  of  hers  t'  incar- 
nadine. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


VII 

Come,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in  the  fire 

of  Spring 
Your   Winter-garment   of   Repent- 
ance fling ; 
The  Bird  of  Time  has   but   a 
little  way 
To  flutter — and  the  Bird  is  on  the 
Wing. 


VIII 

Whether  at  Naishapur  or  Babylon, 
Whether   the   Cup   with   sweet   or 
bitter  run. 
The  Wine  of  Life  keeps  oozing 
drop  by  drop. 
The  Leaves  of  Life  keep  falling  one 
by  one. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


IX 


Each  Mom  a  thousand  Roses  brings, 

you  say ; 
Yes,  but  where  leaves  the  Rose  of 
Yesterday? 
And   this  first  Summer  month 
that  brings  the  Rose 
Shall  take  Jamshyd  and  Kaikobad 
away. 


Well,  let  it  take  them !  What  have 

we  to  do 
With  Kaikobad  the  Great,  or  Kai- 
khosru  ? 
Let  Zal  and  Rustum  thunder  as 
they  will, 
Or  Hatim  call  to  Supper — heed  not 
you. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XI 


With  me  along  the  strip  of  Herbage 

strown 
That  just  divides  the  desert  from 
the  sown, 
Where  name  of  Slave  and  Sultan 
is  forgot — 
And    Peace    to    Mahmtid    on    his 


golden  Throne !  [| 


XII 

A  Book  of  Verses  underneath  the 

Bough, 
A  Jug  of  Wine,  a  Loaf  of  Bread — 
and  Thou 
Beside  me  singing  in  the  Wilder- 
ness— 
Oh,  Wilderness  were   Paradise 
enow  ! 


THE     RUBAI  YAT 


XIII 

Some  for  the  Glories  of  This  World  ; 

and  some 
Sigh  for  the  Prophet's  Paradise  to 
come ; 
Ah,  take  the  Cash,  and  let  the 
Credit  go, 
Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant 
Drum  ! 


XIV 

Look  to  the  blowing  Rose  about  us 

— "Lo, 
Laughing,"    she    says,    "  into    the 
world  I  blow. 
At  once  the  silken  tassel  of  my 
Purse 
Tear,    and    its    Treasure    on    the 
Garden  throw." 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XV 

And    those    who    husbanded    the 

Golden  grain, 
And  those  who  flung  it  to  the  winds 
like  Rain, 
Alike  to  no  such  aureate  Earth 
are  turn'd 
As,  buried  once,  Men  want  dug  up 
again. 


XVI 

The  Worldly  Hope  men  set  their 

Hearts  upon 
Turns  Ashes — or  it  prospers;  and 
anon. 
Like  Snow    upon  the  Desert's 
dusty  Face, 
Lighting  a  little  hour  or  two — is 
gone. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


xvn 

Think,   in  this   batter'd   Caravan- 
serai 
Whose  Portals  are  alternate  Night 
and  Day, 
How  Sultan  after  Sultan  with 
his  Pomp 
Abode  his  destin'd  Hour,  and  went 
his  way. 


XVIII 

They  say  the  Lion  and  the  Lizard 

keep 
The  Courts  where  Jamshyd  gloried 
and  drank  deep : 
And  Bahram,  that  great  Hunter 
— the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  Head,  but  can  not 
break  his  Sleep. 


THE     RUB  A  I  YAT 


XIX 

I  sometimes  think  that  never  blows 

so  red 
The   Rose   as  where   some   buried 
Caesar  bled; 
That  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden 
wears 
Dropt  in  her  Lap  from  some  once 
lovely  Head. 


XX 

And     this    reviving    Herb    whose 

tender  Green 
Fledges  the  River-Lip  on  which  we 
lean — 
Ah,   lean    upon  it  lightly !   for 
who  knows 
From    what    once    lovely    Lip    it 
springs  unseen ! 


THE     RUBAI  YAT 


XXI 

Ah,  my  Beloved,  fill  the  Cup  that 

clears 
Today  of  past  Regret  and  future 
Fears : 
Tomorrmv! — Why,  Tomorrow  I 
may  be 
Myself    with    Yesterday's    Sev'n 
thousand  Years. 


XXII 

For   some  we  loved,   the  loveliest 

and  the  best 
That  from  his  Vintage  rolling  Time 
has  prest, 
Have  drunk  their  Cup  a  Round 
or  two  before, 
And  one  by  one  crept  silently  to 
rest. 


UKJ.\'iSiU  .  CAL1F01C^V^ 


THE     RU  B  A  I  YAT 


XXIII 

And  we,  that  now  make  merry  in 

the  Room 
They  left,  and  Summer  dresses  in 
new  bloom. 
Ourselves  must  we  beneath  the 
Couch  of  Earth 
Descend — ourselves  to  make  a 
Couch — for  whom  ? 


XXIV 

Ah,  make  the  most  of  what  we  yet 

may  spend. 
Before  we  too  into  the  Dust  descend ; 
Dust  into  Dust,  and  under  Dust, 
to  lie, 
Sans  Wine,  sans  Song,  sans  Singer, 
and — sans  End  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XXV 

Alike  for  those  who  for  Today  pre- 
pare, 
And  those  that  after  some  Tomor- 
row stare, 
A  Muezzin  from  the  Tower  of 
Darkness  cries, 
"Fools,    your    Reward    is    neither 
Here  nor  There." 


XXVI 

Why,  all  the  Saints  and  Sages  who 

discuss'd 
Of  the  Two  Worlds  so  wisely — they 
are  thrust 
Like  foolish  Prophets  forth ;  their 
Words  to  Scorn 
Are  scattered,  and  their  Mouths  are 
stopped  with  Dust. 


THE     RUB  AI  YAT 


XXVII 

Myself  when  young  did  eagerly  fre- 
quent 
Doctor  and  Saint,  and  heard  great 
argument 
About  it  and  about :  but  ever- 
more 
Came  out  by  the  same  door  where 
in  I  went* 


XXVITI 

With  them  the  seed  of  Wisdom  did 

I  sow, 
And  with  mine  own  hand  wrought 
to  make  it  grow  ; 
And  this  was  all  the  Harvest 
that  I  reap'd — 
"  I  came  like  Water,  and  like  Wind 
I  go." 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XXIX 

Into  this   Universe,   and   Why  not 

knowing 
Nor  Whence^  like  Water  willy-nilly 
flowing ; 
And  out  of  it,  as  Wind  along  the 
Waste, 
I    know    not    Whither,    willy-nilly 
blowing. 


XXX 

What,  without  asking,  hither  hur- 
ried Whence? 
And,  without  asking.  Whither  hur- 
ried hence  ! 
Oh,   many  a  Cup  of  this  for- 
bidden Wine 
Must  drown  the  memory  of  that 
insolence  !    • 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XXXI 

Up  from   Earth's   Center  through 

the  Seventh  Gate 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Throne  of  Saturn 
sate, 
And  many  a  Knot  unravel'd  by 
the  Road ; 
But  not  the  Master-knot  of  Human 
Fate. 


XXXII 

There  was   the  Door   to  which  I 

found  no  Key ; 
There  was  the  Veil  through  which 
I  might  not  see  : 
Some  little  talk  awhile  of  Me 
and  Thee 
There  was — and  then  no  more  of 
Thee  and  Me. 


THE     RUB  AI  YAT 


XXXIII 

Earth  could  not  answer;  nor  the 

Seas  that  mourn 
In  flowing  Purple,  of  their  Lord  for- 
lorn ; 
Nor  rolling  Heaven,  with  all  his 
Signs  reveaPd 
And  hidden  by  the  sleeve  of  Night 
and  Morn. 


XXXIV 

Then  of  the  Thee  in  Me  who  works 

behind 
The  Veil,  I  lifted  up  my  hands  to 
find 
A   Lamp   amid   the   Darkness ; 
and  I  heard, 
As     from     Without— "  The     Me 
WITHIN  Thee  blind  !  " 


THE     RUBAI  YAT 


XXXV 

Then  to  the  Lip  of  this  poor  earthen 

Urn 
I  lean'd,  the  Secret  of  my  Life  to 
learn  : 
And  Lip  to  Lip  it  murmur'd — 
"  While  you  live, 
Drink  ! — for,  once  dead,  you  never 
shall  return." 


XXXVI 

I  think  the  Vessel,  that  with  fugi- 
tive 
Articulation     answer'd,     once     did 
live. 
And  drink  ;  and  Ah  !  the  passive 
Lip  I  kiss'd. 
How  many  Kisses  might  it  take — 
and  give  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XXXVII 

For  I  remember  stopping  by  the 

way 
To  watch  a  Potter  thumping  his 
wet  Clay : 
And     with     its     all-obHterated 
Tongue 
It    murmur'd — **  Gently,    Brother, 
gently,  pray !  " 


XXXVIII 

And  has  not  such  a  Story  from  of 

Old 
Down  Man's  successive  generations 
roll'd 
Of    such    a    clod    of    saturated 
Earth 
Cast  by  the   Maker  into  Human 
mold? 


THE     RUB  AI  YAT 


XXXIX 

And  not  a  drop  that  from  our  Cups 

we  throw 
For  Earth  to  drink  of,  but  may 
steal  below 
To  quench  the  fire  of  Anguish 
in  some  Eye 
There    hidden — far    beneath,    and 
long  ago. 


XL 

As  then  the  Tulip  for  her  morning 

sup 
Of  Heav'nly  Vintage  from  the  soil 
looks  up. 
Do  you  devoutly  do  the  like, 
till  Heav'n 
To  Earth  invert  you — like  an  empty 
Cup. 


THE     RUB  A  I  YAT 


XLI 

Perplext  no  more  with  Human  or 

Divine, 
Tomorrow's    tangle    to    the    winds 
resign, 
And    lose   your   fingers    in    the 
tresses  of 
The    Cypress-slender    Minister    of 
Wine. 


XLII 

And  if  the  Wine  you  drink,  the  lip 

you  press, 
End  in  what  All  begins  and  ends 
in — Yes ; 
Think  then  you  are  Today  what 
Yesterday 
You   were — Tomorrow   you  shall 
not  be  less. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XLIII 

So  when  the  Angel  of  the  darker 

Drink 
At  last  shall  find  you  by  the  river- 
brink, 
And,    offering   his    Cup,   invite 
your  Soul 
Forth  to  your  Lips  to  quaff — you 
shall  not  shrink. 


xuv 

Why,  if  the  Soul  can  fling  the  Dust 

aside. 
And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven 
ride. 
Were 't  not  a  Shame — were 't  not 
a  Shame  for  him 
In    this    clay    carcase    crippled    to 
abide  ? 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XLV 

T  is  but  a  Tent  where  takes  his  one 

day's  rest 
A  Sultan  to  the  realm  of   Death 
addrest ; 
The  Sultan  rises,  and  the  dark 
Ferrash 
Strikes,  and  prepares  it  for  another 
Guest. 


XLVI 

And  fear  not  lest  Existence  closing 

your 
Account,  and  mine,  should  know  the 
Uke  no  more ; 
The    Eternal    Saki    from    that 
Bowl  has  pour'd 
Millions   of   Bubbles   like   us,    and 
will  pour. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XLVII 

When  You  and  I  behind  the  Veil  are 

past, 
Oh,  but  the  long,  long  while  the 
World  shall  last, 
Which     of     our     Coming     and 
Departure  heeds 
As   the   Sea's   self   should   heed   a 
pebble-cast. 


XLvni 

A   Moment's   Halt — a   momentary 

taste 
Of  Being  from  the  Well  amid  the 
Waste — 
And  Lo  ! — the  phantom  Cara- 
van has  reach'd 
The  Nothing  it  set  out  from — Oh, 
make  haste  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XLIX 

Would  you  that  spangle  of  Exist- 
ence spend 
About  THE  SECRET — quick  about  it, 
Friend  ! 
A    Hair    perhaps    divides    the 
False  and  True — 
And  upon  what,  prithee,  does  life 
depend  ? 


A  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False 

and  True ; 
Yes ;   and   a   single   Alif   were   the 
clue — 
Could  you  but  find  it — to  the 
Treasure-house, 
And  peradventure  to  The  Master 
too ; 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LI 

Whose    secret    Presence,     through 

Creation's  veins 
Running     Quicksilver-Hke      eludes 
your  pains ; 
Taking  all  shapes  from  Mah  to 
Mahi ;  and 
They   change  and  perish   all — but 
He  remains ; 


LH 

A     moment     guess'd — then     back 

behind  the  Fold 
Immerst    of    Darkness    round    the 
Drama  roU'd 
Which,  for  the  Pastime  of  Eter- 
nity, 
He  does   Himself  contrive,   enact, 
behold. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


Lm 

But  if  in  vain,  down  on  the  stub- 
born floor 
Of    Earth,    and    up    to    Heav'n's 
unopening  Door, 
You  gaze  Today,  while  You  are 
You — how  then 
Tomorrow,    You    when    shall    be 
You  no  more  ? 


LIV 

Waste  not  your  Hour,  nor  in  the 

vain  pursuit 
Of   This   and   That  endeavor   and 
dispute ; 
Better  be  jocund  with  the  fruit- 
ful Grape 
Than  sadden  after  none,  or  bitter. 
Fruit. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LV 

You  know,  my  Friends,  with  what 

a  brave  Carouse 
I  made  a  Second  Marriage  in  my 
house ; 
Divorced    old    barren    Reason 
from  my  Bed, 
And  took  the  Daughter  of  the  Vine 
to  Spouse. 


LVI 

For  "Is"  and  "  Is-not  "  though 

with  Rule  and  Line, 
And  "  Up-and-down  "  by  Logic  I 
define, 
Of  all  that  one  should  care  to 
fathom,  I 
Was  never  deep  in  anything  but — 
Wine. 


THE     RU  B  A  I  YAT 


Lvn 

Ah,  but  my  Computations,  People 

say. 
Reduced  the  Year  to  better  reckon- 
ing?—Nay, 
'T  was  only  striking  from  the 
Calendar 
Unborn  Tomorrow,  and  dead  Yes- 
terday. 


Lvm 

And  lately,   by   the  Tavern  Door 

agape. 
Came  shining  through  the  Dusk  an 
Angel  Shape 
Bearing  a  Vessel  on  his  Shoul- 
der ;  and 
He  bid  me  taste  of  it ;  and  't  was — 
the  Grape ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LIX 

The    Grape   that   can   with   Logic 

absolute 
The  Two-and-Seventy  jarring  Sects 
confute : 
The  sovereign  Alchemist  that  in 
a  trice 
Life's  leaden  metal  into  Gold  trans- 
mute : 


LX 

The  mighty  Mahmud,  Allah-breath- 
ing Lord, 
That  all  the  misbelieving  and  black 
Horde 
Of  Fears  and  Sorrows  that  infest 
the  Soul 
Scatters  before  him  with  his  whirl- 
wind Sword. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXI 

Why,  be  this  Juice  the  growth  of 

God,  who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  twisted  tendril  as  a 
Snare  ? 
A   Blessing,   we   should   use  it, 
should  we  not  ? 
And  if  a  Curse — why,  then,  Who 
set  it  there  ? 


LXII 

I  must  abjure  the  Balm  of  Life,  I 

must. 
Scared    by    some    After-reckoning 
ta'en  on  trust, 
Or   lured   with   Hope   of   some 
Diviner  Drink, 
To   fill   the   Cup — when  crumbled 
into  Dust ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXIII 

O   threats   of   Hell   and   Hopes   of 

Paradise  ! 
One  thing  at  least  is  certain — This 
Life  flies ; 
One   thing   is   certain   and    the 
rest  is  Lies ; 
The  Flower  that  once  has  blown 
forever  dies. 


LXIV 

Strange,    is    it    not?    that    of    the 

myriads  who 
Before  us  pass'd  the  door  of  Dark- 
ness through 
Not  one  returns  to  tell  us  of  the 
Road, 
Which  to  discover  we  must  travel 
too. 


THE     RUB  A  I  YAT 


LXV 

The    Revelations    of    Devout    and 

Learn 'd 
Who  rose  before  us,  and  as  Prophets 
burn'd, 
Are  all  but  Stories,  which,  awoke 
from  Sleep 
They    told    their    fellows,    and    to 
Sleep  return'd. 

LXVI 

I  sent  my  Soul  through  the  Invis- 
ible, 
Some   letter   of   that   After-life   to 
spell : 
And  by  and  by  my  Soul  return'd 
to  me. 
And  answer'd,**  I  myself  am  Heav'n 
and  Hell." 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


1>XVIT 

Heav'n  but  the  Vision  of  fulfiU'd 

Desire, 
And  Hell  the  Shadow  from  a  Soul 
on  fire, 
Cast     on     the     Darkness     into 
which  Ourselves, 
So  late  emerg'd  from,  shall  so  soon 
expire. 


LXVni 

We  are  no  other  than  a  moving  row 
Of  Magic  Shadow-shapes  that  come 
and  go 
Round    with    the  Sun-illumin'd 
Lantern  held 
In  Midnight  by  the  Master  of  the 
Show ; 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXIX 

But  helpless  Pieces  of  the  Game  He 

plays 
Upon  this  Checkerboard  of  Nights 
and  Days ; 
Hither  and  thither  moves,  and 
checks,  and  slays. 
And  one  by  one  back  in  the  Closet 
lays. 


LXX 

The    Ball    no    question    makes    of 

Ayes  and  Noes, 
But  Here  or  There  as  strikes  the 
Player  goes ; 
And  He  that  toss'd  you  down 
into  the  Field, 
He  knows  about  it  all — He  knows — 
HE  knows ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXI 

The  Moving  Finger   writes;   and, 

having  writ, 
Moves  on  :  nor  all  your  Piety  nor 
Wit 
Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half 
a  Line, 
Nor   all   your   Tears   wash    out    a 
Word  of  it. 


LXXII 

And  that  inverted  Bowl  they  call 

the  Sky, 
Whereunder    crawling    coop'd    we 
live  and  die, 
Lift  not  your  hands  to  It  for 
help — for  It 
As  impotently  moves  as  you  or  I. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXIII 

With  Earth's  first  Clay  They  did  the 

Last  Man  knead, 
And    there    of    the    Last    Harvest 
sow'd  the  Seed  : 
And  the  first  Morning  of  Crea- 
tion wrote 
What  the  Last  Dawn  of  Reckoning 
shall  read. 


LXXIV 

Yesterday  This  Day's  Madness  did 

prepare ; 
Tomorrow's  Silence,  Triumph,  or 
Despair : 
Drink  !  for  you  know  not  whence 
you  came,  nor  why  : 
Drink !  for  you  know  not  why  you 
go,  nor  where. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXV 

I  tell  you  this — When,  started  from 

the  Goal, 
Over  the  flaming  shoulders  of  the 
Foal 
Of  Heav'n  Parwin  and  Mushtari 
they  flung. 
In  my  predestin*d  Plot  of  Dust  and 
Soul 


LXXVI 

The  Vine  had  struck  a  fiber  :  which 

about 
If  clings  my  Being— let  the  Der- 
vish flout ; 
Of  my  Base  metal  may  be  filed 
a  Key, 
That    shall    unlock    the    Door    he 
howls  without. 


THE     RUB AI YAT 


LXXVII 

And  this  I  know  :  whether  the  one 

True  Light 
Kindle  to  Love,  or  Wrath-consume 
me  quite, 
One    Flash    of    It    within    the 
Tavern  caught 
Better  than  in  the  Temple  lost  out- 
right. 


I.XXVTIf 

What !  out  of  senseless  Nothing  to 

provoke 
A   conscious   Something   to   resent 
the  yoke 
Of  unpermitted  Pleasure,  under 
pain 
Of  Everlasting  Penalties,  if  broke  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXIX 

What !  from  his  helpless  Creature 

be  repaid 
Pure   Gold  for  what  he  lent  him 
dross-allay 'd — 
Sue  for  a  Debt  we  never  did 
contract, 
And  can  not  answer — Oh  the  sorry 
trade ! 


LXXX 

Oh  Thou,   who   didst  with  pitfall 

and  with  gin 
Beset  the  Road  I  was  to  wander  in, 
Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestin'd 
Evil  round 
Enmesh,  and  then  impute  my  Fall 
to  Sin  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


lAXXI 

Oh  Thou,  who  Man  of  baser  Earth 

didst  make, 
And  ev'n  with  Paradise  devise  the 
Snake : 
For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the 
Face  of  Man 
Is  blacken'd — Man's  forgiveness 
give — and  take  ! 


LXXXU 

As  under  cover  of  departing  Day 
Slunk     hunger-stricken     Ramazan 
away, 
Once  more  within  the  Potter's 
house  alone 
I  stood,  surrounded  by  the  Shapes 
of  Clay. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXXIII 

Shapes  of  all  Sorts  and  Sizes,  great 

and  small. 
That  stood  along  the  floor  and  by 
the  wall ; 
And    some    loquacious    Vessels 
were ;  and  some 
Listen'd  perhaps,  but  never  talk'd 
at  all. 


LXXXIV 

Said  one  among  them — "Surely  not 

in  vain 
My  substance  of  the  common  Earth 
was  ta'en 
And  to  this  Figure  molded,  to 
be  broke. 
Or    trampled    back    to    shapeless 
Earth  again." 


THE     BUBAIYAT 


LXXXV 

Then    said    a    Second — **  Ne'er    a 

peevish  Boy 
Would  break  the  Bowl  from  which 
he  drank  in  joy  ; 
And  He  that  with  his  hand  the 
Vessel  made 
Will    surely    not    in    after    Wrath 
destroy." 


LXXXVI 

After  a  momentary  silence  spake 
Some   Vessel   of   a   more   ungainly 
Make; 
"  They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning 
all  awry  : 
What!  did  the  Hand  then  of  the 
Potter  shake  ?  " 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


LXXXVIl 

Whereat  some  one  of  the  loquacious 

Lot— 
I  think  a  Sufi  pipkin — waxing  hot — 
"All  this  of  Pot  and  Potter- 
Tell  me  then, 
Who  is  the  Potter,  pray,  and  who 
the  Pot  ?  " 


I.XXXV11I 

"  Why,"  said  another,  "  Some  there 

are  who  tell 
Of  one  who  threatens  he  will  toss  to 
Hell 
The  luckless  Pots  he  marr'd  in 
making — Pish  ! 
He  's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  't  will  all 
be  well." 


THE     RUBAI  YAT 


LXXXIX 

"WeU,"     murmur'd     one,     "Let 

whoso  make  or  buy, 
My  Clay  with  long  Oblivion  is  gone 
dry: 
But  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar 
Juice, 
Methinks  I  might  recover  by  and 

by." 

xc 

So  while  the  Vessels  one  by  one 

were  speaking, 
The  little  Moon  look'd  in  that  all 
were  seeking : 
And  then  they  jogg'd  each  other, 
"  Brother  !  Brother  ! 
Now  for  the  Porter's  shoulder-knot 
a-creaking  !  " 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XCI 

Ah,  with  the  Grape  my  fading  Life 

provide. 
And   wash   the   Body   whence   the 
Life  has  died. 
And  lay  me,   shrouded  in  the 
Hving  Leaf, 
By  some  not  unfrequented  Garden- 
side. 


XCII 

That  ev'n  my  buried  Ashes  such  a 

snare 
Of  Vintage  shall  fling  up  into  the 

Air 
As  not  a  True-believer  passing 

by 
But  shall  be  overtaken  unaware. 


THE     RUBAI  YAT 


XCIII 

Indeed  the  Idols  I  have  loved  so 

long 
Have  done  my  credit  in  this  World 
much  wrong : 
Have  drown'd  my  Glory  in  a 
shallow  Cup, 
And    sold    my    Reputation    for    a 
Song. 


XCIV 

Indeed,     indeed.     Repentance     oft 

before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I 
swore  ? 
And  then  and  then  came  Spring, 
and  Rose-in-hand 
My   threadbare    Penitence   apieces 
tore. 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


xcv 

And  much  as  Wine  has  play'd  the 

Infidel, 
And    robb'd    me   of    my    Robe   of 
Honor — ^Well, 
I  wonder  often  what  the  Vintners 
buy 
One-half   so   precious   as   the   stuflf 
they  sell. 


XC\T 

Yet  Ah,  that  Spring  should  vanish 

with  the  Rose  ! 
That  Youth's  sweet-scented  manu- 
script should  close ! 
The    Nightingale    that    in    the 
branches  sang, 
Ah    whence,     and    whither    flown 
again,  who  knows ! 


THE     RUB  AI  YAT  ' 


XCVII 

Would  but  the  Desert  of  the  Foun- 
tain yield 
One  glimpse — if  dimly,  yet  indeed, 
reveal'd. 
To  which  the  fainting  Traveler 
might  spring, 
As  springs  the  trampled  herbage  of 
the  field ! 


XCVIII 

Would  but  some  winged  Angel  ere 

too  late 
Arrest  the  yet  unfolded  Roll  of  Fate, 
And  make  the  stern  Recorder 
otherwise 
Enregister,  or  quite  obliterate  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


XCIX 

Ah  Love !  could  you  and  I  with 

Him  conspire 
To    grasp    this    sorry    Scheme    of 
Things  entire, 
Would  not  we  shatter  it  to  bits 
— and  then 
Re-mold    it    nearer  to  the  Heart's 
Desire  ! 

:|c         :):         :}:         4:         4: 
(' 

Yon  rising  Moon  that  looks  for  us 

again — 
How  oft  hereafter  will  she  wax  and 
wane; 
How  oft  hereafter  rising  look  for 
us 
Through    this    same    Garden— and 
for  one  in  vain  ! 


THE     RUBAIYAT 


CI 


And  when  like  her,  oh  Saki,  you 

shall  pass 
Among  the  Guests  Star-seatter'd  on 
the  Grass, 
And  in  your  joyous  errand  reach 
the  spot 
Where  I  made  One — turn  down  an 
empty  Glass ! 

TAMAM 


so  HERE  ENDETH  "THE  RUBAIYAT 
OF  OMAR  KHAYYAM."  THE  POET 
ASTRONOMER  OF  NAISHAPUR.  AS 
RENDERED  INTO  ENGLISH  VERSE 
BY  EDWARD  FITZ  GERALD,  AND 
PRINTED  BY  THE  ROYCROFTERS, 
THIS  MONTH  OF  AUGUST,   MCMXII 


/7/v  <=^. 


